Ashes

Chapter 5

"Rishi?" The sound of his sister's voice echoed throughout his head, interrupting the ringing he heard. "Rishi, are you listening?" He quit staring at his feet and looked in front of him. He saw Lil standing in front of him. They weren't indoors, they were outside in the snow. He was leaning on a long wooden pole he was holding, and around his leg was a piece of wood, strapped tightly with a series of bandages. "What..? How did I get here?" His speech slurred and slow. His sister tilted her head to the side a little, a confused expression on her face. "What are you talking about? We walked here. Are you alright? You've been acting confused ever since I fixed your leg." He froze for a second. "I... I don't remember waking up. I just blacked out and suddenly I'm looking at my feet, and you're calling my name..." Her face changed, the confusion in her eyes was replaced with worry. She walked closer. "What are you talking about? We were talking the entire time. Do you not remember any of that?" Once again, he froze. "N-No. Nothing." Lil grabbed her brother by the chin, and looked him in his eyes. "Dilated. This isn't good." "W-What do you mean?" "Your pupils are dilated. Uhh... Come, get inside this house." She put Rishi's arm over her shoulder, and lifted him up a little, carrying him inside. 

Seemingly instantly, Rishi was sitting on a chair, with Lil in front of him. "Are you feeling alright?" Rishi shook his head. "I feel like crap." Lil sighed. "No shit, Sherlock. What's making you feel like shit?" "... Well, my head's killing me, for one thing... I'm feeling sick as well. Sick as in, y'know, nauseous. I'm also a little dizzy, and there's this sound I keep hearing..." Lil's head nodded along with each symptom Rishi listed. At the end, she sat crouched over, looking down at the floor. "This is... Bad. Very bad." Lil's voice was filled with a mix of fear and sadness. "I think you have a concussion. A bad one, too." Lil stood up, her chair scraping the wooden floor. "I... I don't know how to fix a concussion. Rick taught me a long time ago, but I've forgotten most of it. We're lucky I still remember the symptoms." She paced back and forth in the room, muttering something incoherently about concussions. Rishi just stared at her, a bit dazed. Lil stopped. "I think I saw a library a few streets back. If we're lucky, there might be a book there that lets me know how to treat you." Rishi slowly nodded, before Lil put his arm around her shoulder and picked him up, along with his makeshift crutch, and walking through the door.

Rishi caught himself looking in darkness. He instinctively reached for his pocket, and took out a flashlight. Turning it on, he slowly turned his head. He was lying down on a couch, in what he could only assume was a library, judging by the shelves filled with books. Behind the ringing in his ears, he could hear thuds, as if stuff was being thrown on the ground. He sat himself up, and grabbed his head. He felt as if his head was going to explode. He moved his feet, and heard wet, sloshing noises. He looked down to find a puddle of yellow-ish green vomit. He must have thrown up. He heard the recognizable voice of his sister yelling in frustration. He stood up, grabbing his crutch and walked over to her. "Lil? Are you alright?" Lil turned to meet Rishi's gaze. "Oh my... Rishi, what are you doing? You need to lie down." She grabbed Rishi, and set him down next to her. "Do you remember why we're here?" "... Uhh... I think I got hurt, and you had to find a book to know how to treat me." "Yes. You have a concussion. I need to know how to fix it." Lil turned her gaze back to the books, and continued looking through them. "How are you feeling? Headache? Nauseous?" "Yes... A bit... I don't know, tired, maybe?" He blinked. He looked around him. "I'm not doing good, am I?" "No, you're not. You're doing pretty bad." She looked back at him. "But I can fix you." Rishi moved himself a little, lying down on his side. "My head is killing me." His voice was tired, he sounded exhausted. Lil stopped, took her backpack off her and took out a bottle of Aspirin. "Wasn't expecting to be using these so quickly..." She handed Rishi the bottle, and he proceeded to take a few of the pills, as Lil went back to scouring the shelves for books. After a few minutes, she stopped. She picked a book off the shelves and began quickly reading through it's pages. "Yes, here!" She would slowly read the pages. "...There's not much we can do without a real doctor. We'll have to hope it's a low grade concussion, or return home... But by the time we reach it, it's probably already too late." She'd sit down next to Rishi, her hair covering her face. "I'm scared. For you, Rishi. I wouldn't know what to do if anything happened to you." Rishi would nod a bit, and lay his head down on Lil's shoulder, his eyes slowly closing a bit. "I think I'm about to fall asleep... Is that bad?" He'd ask, looking up at his sister, who didn't seem to respond. "Lil? Are y-..." He'd suddenly realize that the words were forming in his head, but not exiting his lips, he'd try to move, but his tiredness would slowly overtake him, and his eyes would close as he'd drift into slumber.